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Vorstin viert 70e jaar op de troon
December 23, 2021 - Queen Elizabeth II will not spend the festive period at the Sandringham estate in eastern England. She has already called off her traditional pre-holiday family lunch at Buckingham Palace.
Instead, the monarch, 95, will remain at Windsor Castle, about 25 miles west of London, where she has spent most of the pandemic. Members of the Royal Family will join her.
According to official figures, the UK is suffering from an infection spike, with 584,000 positive cases reported in the past week -- a 63 per cent increase on the previous seven days.
For years, the royal family has spent the holidays at Sandringham, in Norfolk, where crowds gather to watch them attend the local church on Christmas Day.
During the autumn, the Queen had to withdraw from a series of public events, including the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow and the Remembrance Sunday service, because of health concerns.
2021 is the first year the Queen will have to celebrate the holidays without her late husband of 73 years, Prince Philip, who passed away at age 99 in April.
In 2022, Her Majesty will become the first British monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee -- seventy years of service -- having acceded to the throne on February 6, 1952.